Xtra is an online magazine and community platform covering LGBTQ2S+ culture, politics and health. We aim to break boundaries, think outside of binaries and build bridges within our communities and beyond.

Power

LGBT activists file challenge of Barbados’ anti-gay laws

With the support of Canadian advocates, Barbadian activists have taken their country to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

By Rob Salerno

Kevin Kindred

Christian university Trinity Western loses fight over law school at Supreme Court

Supreme Court of Canada finds BC and Ontario law societies can refuse accreditation based on the school’s community covenant

By Arshy Mann

Power

What I learned, loved and lost as a trans Zumba addict

Finding a physical activity that I loved came at the cost of putting up with countless small acts of hostility

By Kai Cheng Thom

Power

In Barbados, voters deliver a stinging rebuke to political homophobia

The election of Mia Mottley could be a turning point for LGBT Barbadians

By Arshy Mann

Opinion

Fighting for LGBT rights abroad starts by taking on the Canadians exporting homophobia

The fight for LGBT rights abroad begins at home

By Arshy Mann

Power

Bermuda just banned same-sex marriage

Toronto gay couple who won the right to marriage in the island say this isn’t the end of the fight

By Rob Salerno

Power

My mother’s daughter, my father’s son: a trans Chinese woman on finding joy in the ancestral rites of death

How I honoured Chinese funeral tradition, my family and queerness at my grandfather’s funeral

By Kai Cheng Thom

Power

Trinity Western law school would be an affront to LGBT equality, Supreme Court hears

Don’t disregard or discount the school’s LGBT students, Egale argues

By Arshy Mann

Power

Supreme Court justices joust with Trinity Western over homophobic covenant

Canada’s largest Christian university starts hearings in highest court

By Arshy Mann

Power

Toronto trans job fair aims to fight transphobia in employment

Employers including Apple, TD Canada Trust and the Canadian Forces were present

By Arshy Mann

Power

BC’s human rights commission is finally coming back and these LGBT experts are looking forward to it

Without it, people are left to navigate a complex system without support, lawyer says

By Layla Cameron

Power

An Ontario preschool rejected a child because their parents are gay — and it’s totally legal

The Ontario Human Rights Code includes an exemption that allows religious organizations to legally discriminate

By Arshy Mann

Power

Vancouver police have yet to fully protect trans people, more than a year past deadline

VPD’s unfinished update to trans policies part of a pattern of delays and inaction, activist alleges

By Tessa Vikander

Opinion

What does Barbados’ prime minister have to say about the country’s harsh buggery laws?

Though rarely enforced, LGBT Bajans continue to face discrimination and harassment. Is decriminalizing buggery a solution?

By Arshy Mann

Power

Battleground Barbados: LGBT activists face off against North American homophobes in the Caribbean

LGBT Bajans face regular harassment and discrimination on the island. And some fear that it’s about to get worse

By Arshy Mann

Power

‘How many months can we stay alive?’: Meet the Iranian-Indian couple abandoned by Canada

Alireza and Kiran are struggling to survive in Turkey after Canada halted their resettlement to prioritize Syrian refugees

By Dylan C Robertson

Opinion

How can Canada respond when the world goes nuts?

With limited power of coercion and big exposure to risk, Canada’s best path is to lead by example

By Rob Salerno

Power

Canadian government spending $3 million to determine fate of gay blood ban

Critics challenge Liberals’ new LGBT advisor on slow-moving change

By Dylan C Robertson